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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Madison mulls on contentious student building

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Project architect Joseph Lee explains various components of the proposed five-story apartment building on Brooks Street. Lee said the campus and neighborhood plans for expected use for the land differ, making it difficult to satisfy all parties. UW has contested the proposal, arguing the land should be used by the university.[/media-credit]

The Plan Commission tackled the issue of a new apartment building proposal on Brooks Street in downtown Madison, but ultimately decided to refer the debate backward in the city process.

The new five-story apartment building is intended to serve University of Wisconsin students. However, the plan set for the building is still not approved because of controversy between the building’s owner and UW’s master plan for future campus infrastructure. 

Joseph Lee, an architect working on the plan, said the height and width of the building was an issue criticized in UW’s campus plan. The campus plan asked for the building to contrast with the surrounding buildings.

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The commission, despite multiple buildings around this new apartment building that stand six stories tall, approved the height of the new apartment.

Lee also said the neighborhood plan and campus plans are different and are based on very different ideas.

Gary Brown, UW’s director of campus planning, said the campus plan calls for an academic research facility in the Brooks Street location. The neighborhood plan asks for the apartment building to blend in and look relatively uniform, while the research facility may not blend. 

A report from Urban Design Commission said the building, which shows up in the 1995 and 2004 Campus Plans, is shown as an academic research building in the Regent Street Campus Neighborhood Plan, which was approved in 1998.

Lee commented on the concern of parking during move-in and move-out days, and where the parking would be located. He offered metered parking outside the apartment building as a suggestion.

Joe McCormick, the developer of the apartment plan, said the apartment would be furnished and limited furniture would be moved in.

Brown brought up that interest in the property was expressed many times, and the property owner was unwilling to sell.

Ald. Chris Schmidt, District 11, offered to refer this plan back to the Urban Design Commission.

“We do have forum-based recommendations coming out of the neighborhood and adopted neighborhood plan,” Schmidt said. “It sounds like they weren’t addressed at the UDC level.”

Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, said the Plan Commission would not necessarily find guidance from UDC if the neighborhood plan was taken into account.

He said there is a conflict between the plan developers and the university. He added the university has a vision of the plan for the area, but there was not a detailed discussion of the neighborhood plan; rather, this was an acceptance by the UDC of the campus master plan.

Resnick said he believes the plan should not be referred back to UDC. He added that considering the positive feedback already before the commission from UDC, it was not necessary to refer it back to them.

“I understand how this plan was put together and what it reflects and frankly, as far as the UW master plan goes, we didn’t adopt that,” Schmidt said. “But what is adopted is in this campus neighborhood plan and whether residents were the ones who crafted those recommendations or adopted them from out of some other notion is not particularly relevant to the standards question.”

The commission voted again to send the plan to UDC for more detailed discussion.

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